Experimenting With Butterflies
by Cristya Blade
Summary: [RyoSaku nonyaoi] [manga based] [possible OOC] [Independently finished, sequel to come later] [high school fic] Ryoma and Sakuno's hands touch by accident, Ryoma feels something new and is confused. He experiments with this new sensation. Does he like it?
1. A long day with no Fanta

Prince of Tennis (RyoSaku) Non-yaoi

Notes: manga based, Ryoma is probably OOC (don't care), other chapters to be posted soon, sequel will come later as well.

Chapters will be posted as I am able to type them up. I do not have a beta reader :( but I am looking!

**Experimenting With Butterflies**

Part 1: A long day with no Fanta…

It all started with a Fanta. Well, let's rewind a bit. Practice was over; well at least for him it was since his scheduled matches had ended, and Ryoma Echizen had only one thing on his mind as mind as he eyed the small girl with twin braids- SODA. He'd been thirsty all day but hadn't had a spare moment to get a drink for himself.

Not for himself, oh no. But he'd asked others. Inui was carrying papers in and out of the science lab the students were working in that day. Since it was a lab period Ryoma thought he could get up as long as he was quiet and leave his partner to his work for a few moments until he returned with his favorite drink. But no, as soon as Ryoma stood up and headed for the door his teacher shot him a terrifying glare from behind thick, round glasses.

"And just where are YOU going, Echizen?"

Wow… high school teachers could be scary.

"Garbage… paper towel… sir," Ryoma muttered. He'd dealt with angry teachers before but this old man looked like he meant business. That and he was getting a poor grade in Chemistry, so being on the teacher's bad side was not something he wanted to do.

That was why, for once, it had been lucky that Inui was there. On one of his trips in and out Ryoma managed to flag him down.

"Please," he whispered, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself, "bring me something to drink. Ok?"

Ryoma rarely talked to Inui about anything on or off of the courts, let alone saying please, so Inui just nodded at his underclassman. He might as well, since he was just running errands for an assistant teacher any way.

It wasn't until Inui left the room that Ryoma realized his mistake. He was so alarmed he nearly dropped his beaker.

"Shit."

"What's wrong?" his lab partner asked. "You spill something?"

"Uh, no," Ryoma said, unaware that he'd voiced his dread aloud.

"Just…" he was trying to think of how to express the fearsome concoctions that Inui terrified the team with occasionally… no words could appropriately describe them.

"Just don't want him to bring me juice."

"Do you hate it?"

"Only Inui's."

Thankfully Inui entered the room again with a bottle of milk. Ryoma stared at it. With all his data gathering Inui should have known he wanted a Fanta. Oh well, it wasn't juice at least. It wasn't Inui juice. Still, it was nasty.

During matches later Ryoma called out to Momoshiro, who didn't look to be doing anything useful at the moment.

"What?"

"Get me-" Ryoma grunted as he returned a shot from Kawamura, "drink!"

"Fine, where's your money?"

"Little busy…"

"Fine, I'll get it. But you owe me two!"

Ryoma grumbled as he returned another shot.

Momo returned a moment later with a bottle of water. He awkwardly slid it in between the links of the fence; there was no way he was going near the court with that match. Echizen could grab it when it was his serve. Kawamura was nice so he wouldn't care, and Tezuka-bucho wasn't mean enough to get mad at a short pause in the game for water. Unless he was in a REALLY bad mood.

"I wanted a Fanta!" Ryoma said, almost whining at the spiky headed boy as he approached the fence to take a drink any way. For heaven's sake he'd known Momo for about four years, he should know!

Momo just stood straight up with an unreadable expression on his face.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow and turned around. Tezuka-bucho..?

"Don't drink soda during matches. It's bad for you."

"Um…"

"Water's better for you."

Ryoma swallowed.

"Water's better for you."

Ryoma nodded.

"Now get back to the match."

Ryoma set down the now half empty bottle and ran back to face Kawamura.

So, understandably his thought process after practice was find wallet, walk to vending machine, and FINALLY buy Fanta.

Now Ryoma had no idea why this simple three step plan has a glitch in it, though if you asked him much much later he might have an inkling. But on the way to the vending machine he caught sight of Sakuno Ryuuzaki. Poor Sakuno was breathing slightly harder than normal. It could have been from the girl's tennis practice earlier or from cheering, but mostly likely it was just the heat. She looked a bit wilted.

So when Ryoma was in front of that machine and inserted two coins instead of one he was slightly annoyed. He guessed he had to. It wasn't as if she would take care of herself, and her noisy friend hadn't been around today to do it either. Old coach Ryuuzaki would be mad anyway, if she were to become ill or pass out from the heat. And that was the justification behind the two Fantas that came out of the machine.

Ryoma didn't know how many steps it was from the bench to the machine. He'd never been that desperate. But however many steps there were, it was too many. He opened his pop and started drinking it on the way. Finally! It had been a day or so since he'd had one last. Little did he know he'd be cursing it later.

He was so preoccupied with his soda that all he could do when he reached Sakuno was thrust the other soda out towards her. He had no grace about it at all. It was something like when you hold scissors out to someone it's always handles towards... Granted not all rules on handing people things were this strict, but if handing something off, one should certainly make room for the other person to take it instead of messily, sloppily thrusting it towards the other person with their hand sprawled out all over it. In all reality, a situation like this could have been more dangerous than handing off scissors.

"Is… um, is this one for me?" Sakuno said, blinking at the cat-eyed boy.

He rolled his eyes and nodded. Who else would it be for?

Sakuno reached out nervously and grasped the can… and part of Ryoma's hand. She blushed a little as she pulled her hand away, taking the soda with it.

Ryoma almost choked as he felt her fingers sliding along his. He felt odd or like he was shivering… or something like that. Of course the feeling left as quickly as it had come.

"Thank you," she said, blushing down at the can as she opened it.

Ryoma hoped no one had noticed his little… momentary lapse. Least of all her.

"No problem," he said, walking away. She looked like she might have wanted to say something else, but Ryoma felt his face becoming uncharacteristically hot and he wanted out.

-----

RyoSaku fans please review and, if you like the story, tell other:) I will try to finish posting every chapter quickly. Thank you.


	2. Experiment GO!

Prince of Tennis (RyoSaku) Non-yaoi

Notes: manga based, Ryoma is probably OOC (don't care), other chapter to be posted soon, sequel will come later as well (!). I think this story has maybe 2 swears, does it need to be T?

I got reviews! That means people read it! And liked it! I'm so very happy, thank you very much .

Last chapter will be posted as soon as I am able to type it up. I do not have a beta reader :( but I am looking!

**Experimenting With Butterflies**

Part 2: Experiment GO!!!

Ryoma threw his towel aside and pulled a shirt on to get ready for bed. He settled down to sleep and went over the events of the day in his mind. He didn't play against Kawamura often, especially since Kawamura had only decided to stay on the team because of further obligation and didn't even attend all of the practices. And then Oishi had- wait. After that match, just what exactly had happened?

Ryoma shook his head and rolled over. Karupin pawed at him in annoyance.

"Sorry," he said, reaching out and patting a patch of fur.

Now he remembered. The Americans called it "having butterflies in the stomach." That was probably it. But no, that didn't make sense. Wasn't it supposed to be something more like… oh. Nah, he didn't pay attention to girly stuff like that.

But still, was it because of Sakuno Ryuuzaki? That didn't make much sense. That clumsy girl he'd known since his first year at Seigaku Junior High? She was his old coach's grand daughter. Yeah he talked to her sometimes like… when she made him food. Or if the mood suddenly struck him. Something like that. She was just there. She always had been, since he'd come to Japan.

Ah! Geez! Just go to sleep already! Ryoma tossed again and pulled on the covers. Karupin became so annoyed that he stalked off angrily, probably to go skulk around the house until a more suitable resting place was found.

Ryoma sighed. That didn't help any. He closed his eyes. 'Sleep now,' he commanded himself.

… Ah good. Silence. Besides, it's not like he felt that way when he touched Momo or Kaido or Fuji or any of his team mates. He didn't even get the same thrill when he hit- er- accidentally made contact with- Horio.

Ryoma flopped on his back. Ok, it was bothering him. And he wasn't asleep yet. Unacceptable. He tried to reproduce the feeling- make himself shiver or something like that. He failed.

Well obviously not thinking about it wasn't an option. Perhaps in the morning he would forget all about it, but if not, then what? Hmm… the same thing he did in tennis, analyze the situation properly, then react. In the end he always came out on top any way… this little problem wouldn't be bothering him for long.

-----

Ryoma woke up and lazily made his way to school. After a round in the courts it was time for class. And time to put his theory to the test.

"Good morning, Ryoma-kun," he heard someone say softly.

"Ah," he turned around, "morning Ryuuzaki."

He dug around in his bag as she took her seat. She was concentrating fairly hard on something in a notebook when he came up to her.

"Here's the notes back that I borrowed a while ago," Ryoma said. They would be worthless to her now since the test was over any way, but it was a chance to put his experiment in to action.

Unfortunately, the paper was a lot larger than a Fanta can. Even though he spread his hand out as wide as he could, there would be no contact after all.

Sakuno reached for the paper. He jerked his hand a little in a final attempt, but being a rather shy girl she had become an expert at dodging people. No big deal. He'd get her next time.

-----

Ryoma's new experiment with contact was going horribly, as expected. When he touched Momo's hand Momo just stared at him.

"What the hell?"

"Hmm, I was trying to see if something happened."

Momo moved away uncomfortably.

"Oh, no. No! Not like that!" Ryoma said when he realized what Momo was thinking.

"Just never do that again man. Ever. And I mean it."

"Yeah."

Negative. And not just negative as in the reaction but negative as in it was a horrible experience that he never wanted again.

"Ryoma-sama! Ryoma-sama! That was a great match!"

So it couldn't be just anyone? Apparently, it had to be a member of the opposite sex. Well…

-----

"SAKUNO! SAAA-KUUU-NOOO!"

Sakuno cringed as she heard noises in the hallway. Sure enough, her long time friend came bursting in to the room.

"Hi Tomo-"

"You'll never guess what!"

"Oh-"

"Ryoma-sama! He… he… he touched me!!!"

"Oh no, are you ok?"

"Not like that! It wasn't on purpose but still… no… no… no! Maybe it was! Aaah! I'm so excited!"

Sakuno frowned.

"Any way," Tomoka continued as if she'd eaten a whole bag of sugar, "I came up to him after this match and I was talking to him and… and when he turned away from me his hand brushed up against my arm! Oh it was so romantic! Like a gentle caress!"

Sakuno briefly thought back to the day before. She'd accidentally touched his hand. It was kind of embarrassing but on the other hand she… she had enjoyed it… But it was just an accident, and her fault, really.

"It was so nice!" Tomoka mused.

Sakuno rolled her eyes at her friend. It was just an accident, after all. Ryoma didn't like to be close to anyone.

-----

It was Wednesday, the next day, and Sakuno found herself surprised to hear the name of Ryoma Echizen floating around a lot more than usual.

"T-today Echizen-san's hand brushed against mine. I was so nervous!"

"Earlier in the hall, Echizen-kun's shoulder bumped mine! He said sorry too! It was so cute!"

"You know that tennis player Echizen Ryoma? Today I was reading a list posted on the bulletin board and he came up behind me and- and- and when he was checking something out I swear he touched my neck! Kyaa I'm serious!"

Things went on like that for the rest of the day and all throughout Thursday and Friday too.

Sakuno looked out at the sunny day and smiled.

"I heard girls tennis practice would run long today," Tomoka said, "do you know if that's true or not?"

"Hmm? Oh, probably."

"Well then, do you mind if I just go and watch the boy's team a little and then go home without you? I wanted to be home early."

"I don't mind," Sakuno said and smiled reassuringly.

Her attention turned away from the window not, Sakuno could hear the conversations going on again. The 'accidental contact' conversations. And Ryoma-kun was still on the other side of the room! What were these girls thinking?

"Hmm," Tomoka whined, "doesn't it seem like a lot of girls touched Ryoma-sama this week? And here I was thinking I was special."

"I'm… sorry," Sakuno said, not knowing what else to say.

"Meh, it's nothing. Any way, it would be nice if he could bump in to you too! Then you'd know what it would feel like."

"Tomoka!"

"Just kidding, just kidding…"

-----

RyoSaku fans please review and, if you like the story, tell others :) I will try to finish posting the last chapter soon, and will then get to work on writing the sequel. Thank you for the encouraging reviews so far :)


	3. Achieving the Desired Results

Prince of Tennis (RyoSaku) Non-yaoi

Notes: manga based, Ryoma is probably OOC (don't care), sequel will come later as well. This is the last chapter of this story, thanks for reading :)

Yay, thank you very much for the reviews! They make me happy :)

**Experimenting With Butterflies**

Part 3: Achieving the Desired Results

Everyone seemed in a hurry to leave today. Well, that was fine with Ryoma. The courts were even clean, minus the huge basket of tennis balls he still had out. He was a bit tired from the practice that day, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Some quiet practice would do him some good.

Then he heard footsteps from outside the fence. He wasn't alone after all. Too bad.

He hoped with all his might that it wasn't another girl. Ever since he began his experiment earlier in the week it seemed as if for every girl he had touched, there were ten more following him hoping to share the same fate. But the experiment was over. He'd tried the whole week and nothing. Just giggly girls with skin so soft and painstakingly maintained that it ended up being clammy. Gross. But other than that, he didn't feel anything. So that one time must have been a fluke.

"Oh, you're still here too. Oh um… but I guess you would… be. H-hi, Ryoma-kun…"

Oh, that's right; the girls practice had gone as long as the guys today. It had been twice as noisy when they both let out.

"Yeah," was all he said to acknowledge her.

A moment of silence passed and she shifted her weight uncomfortably and started to leave.

"Hey, you want to come hit some balls around with me? By myself I can only practice my serve."

Sakuno didn't really want to, but she couldn't turn down the invitation either. She was glad she hadn't changed out of her tennis uniform to go home.

In silence Ryoma served and they played a couple of rounds. She didn't last very long against him, but at least she was returning the ball in a somewhat acceptable manner.

Ryoma looked up and surveyed her carefully. She was covered in sweat and her head was drooping to the side a little. And when she wasn't returning a ball, her arm flopped down to hang at her side.

'Oh that's right,' he thought, 'the girls aren't used to having practices that long or difficult.' She looked like she did on Monday. She was probably tired. And if she was, this wouldn't be a good match for much longer.

"I'm done," Ryoma said catching the ball as she returned it to him. He felt a little bit proud when he dropped the ball back in the basket and noticed that catching it had left his palm slightly pink.

"I'll help clean up," Sakuno muttered as she picked up some balls and headed over to the bin.

"Yeah."

He bent over the bin to drop some more balls in right as she accidentally knocked it over. Ryoma grunted.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'll pick it up…"

"No, it's fine, I will…"

There were more balls to pick up now then there had been before. One there and over there… Ah- there's one!

Ryoma and Sakuno reached for it at the same time. Sakuno had a hold on it first, but then Ryoma did, and…

He felt… he felt nervous or something. His heart was beating faster and he felt kind of stiff and there was this urge to pull his hand away and say something… like maybe apologize… but he didn't. It was that same feeling again. The one that he hadn't been able to replicate. And her hands? They weren't clammy… but they were soft. Just not gross…

Ryoma had resisted the urge to pull away but Sakuno hadn't.

"S-sorry," she said covering her face as she blushed. He didn't say anything, just pulled his cap lower and picked up the remaining balls.

"I guess that's… that's been, uh, happening to you a lot. This week. Uh… I mean since Ryoma-kun doesn't like that kind of thing, so… I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok," Ryoma said hoisting the basket, "actually I've been doing it on purpose."

"Y-you have?" Sakuno said sounding a bit scandalized.

"Yeah. I was trying to experiment with having 'butterflies in my stomach.'"

Sakuno tilted her head a little and looked confused.

"What is 'butterflies' and 'stomach?' They aren't common vocabulary words so I don't remember them." No… she wasn't that good in English after all.

"Um, inside my stomach there are butterflies," he tried in Japanese.

"Ew!" she said. "You- you ate butterflies? And-"

"No, no, it's just an expression. It doesn't work well in Japanese I guess."

"Ah… I see. So what does it mean?"

"It's like… a feeling… inside."

"What, like sadness or happiness?"

"No, it's like… um…"

Ryoma tried to think of what is was most like.

"Going down a steep hill really fast? Any way, do you remember on…"

He stopped. He felt a little ashamed admitting to her out loud that he remembered something that had happened between them five days ago. But… why? About four years he'd known her, right? He was just being ridiculous. And it was just an experiment any way.

"Um, a few days ago?"

"Yeah, you grabbed my hand," he continued as if it were nothing, "and it felt strange. Just like the American expression 'I've got butterflies in my stomach.' I tried to get it to happen again all week but it didn't." Until now. He couldn't figure it out. Maybe it did only happen with Sakuno. But why?

Sakuno stood there looking confused, as if she were trying to take in the whole situation.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I guess I still don't get the stomach butterflies or… how does it feel like?"

"Here, try this, look at my eyes."

She did it haltingly but attempted to hold his gaze as her cheeks got redder and redder.

He couldn't help but smile- just a little- as he took her hands in his.

"It feels like this."


End file.
